OpenLampTech No. 190
Context Engineering | WHERE Query optimizations | Database management struggles for Laravel developers | Is core PHP still relevant? | orWhere() Laravel security tips
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All commentary on the below curated content is mine unless otherwise directly quoted.
Query Optimisation: Using indexes for WHERE with multiple conditions
Very well said in this quote from the source article:
“Query optimisation is not rocket science, but it is not always intuitive.”
I agree and know that it is definitely one of my weaknesses.
Luckily, there is solid content, such as this article, that helps when learning database indexing.
Topics covered in this deep dive, to name just a few, include:
Index access types
Functions
Expressions
Column order
Primary keys
[Vettabase]
Top 6 MySQL Database Management Struggles for Laravel Developers (And Smart Fixes)
Developing applications and managing databases are not one and the same.
Ultimately, these are (very) different roles.
As is covered in this piece, database management often comes with the territory.
Fortunately, when it comes to MySQL or MariaDB (and others), specifically performance tuning, Releem is one of the better options.
Founded and created by Roman Agabekov, Releem helps developers monitor, diagnose, and fix performance-related database issues.
[Laravel News]
Security Tip: Scoping orWhere Can Be Disastrous!
I don't necessarily use Laravel (or its ORM, Eloquent), but I wonder if this is where ORMs are trying to do too much.
Typically, with SQL, anytime I see or use OR, I know the query is going to be less restrictive in any type of filtering.
Essentially, that's what OR does.
Stephen Rees-Carter of Securing Laravel shares more about orWhere() and how it can be dangerous if not used with (some) caution.
[Securing Laravel / Stephen Rees-Carter]
Is core PHP still relevant in 2025? I am not talking about frameworks like Laravel, Symfony, etc
I saw this in my Google alerts feed and thought it would be good to share.
I believe that with all the many PHP-based frameworks and CMSs, there’s no better reason to know core PHP and stay relevant.
Knowing core basics will take you far in working with the frameworks and CMSs.
There are some interesting comments in the forum feed that are worth reading.
The New Skill in AI is Not Prompting, It's Context Engineering
As someone who loves AI, hates AI, and loves to hate AI, I'm definitely going to have to agree here.
To a certain point.
When I first started using AI for programming-related tasks, I thought long(er) chats were better because of all the context awareness.
Now I'm finding that all that context winds up confusing the AI at times (I think).
A better approach for me is to have a more accurate and specific initial context, rather than just more context.
[Phil Schmid]
WordPress and WooCommerce News and Updates
WooCommerce 10.0 Release is Delayed (July 7th, 2025)
What’s new for developers? (July 2025)
Thank you for reading OpenLampTech. I hope you have a great rest of your week.
Take care.
Josh Otwell